TSRTC celebrates Independence Day, fetes two veteran employees

Hyderabad: On the occasion of 76th Independence Day, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) police personnel paraded at Hyderabad Bus Bhavan headquarters on Monday. TSRTC Chairman and MLA Bajireddy Govardhan and MD V C Sajjanar hoisted the national flag.

Bajireddy Govardhan and V C Sajjanar, as a part of Swatantra Bharatha Vajrostavalu felicitated the two RTC veteran employees Narasimha (97) and Sathaiah (94) who worked in the pre-Independence era. They said it was a great honour bestowed by TSRTC on the two TSRTC living legends.

They recalled that RTC in Telangana State was first established as NSR-RTD (Nizam State Rail and Road Transport Department), a wing of Nizam State Railway in the erstwhile Hyderabad State, in 1932, with 27 buses and 166 employees.

According to TSRTC, Narasimha joined NSRRTD (now TSRTC) in 1944 as a temporary clerk and rose to the position of Accounts Officer at the time of retirement in 1983 after working for 38 years. He still remember his days and passionately describes the evolution of TSRTC in all these years.

Sathaiah joined NSRRTD in 1946 as a temporary office boy and retired as the Assistant Stores Keeper in 1988 after working for 41 years in the corporation passionately remembering the glorious years of TSRTC and is still emotionally connected to the corporation.

On this occasion, both Narasimha and Sathiah urged all the employees and families to continue to serve the corporation and the public in the years to come.

The chairman announced that TSRTC will soon fill jobs through the BWS scheme in RTC. The corporation is also going to start 300 electric buses and will also be launching the corporation's own RTC ZIVA water bottles for commercial revenue.

The corporation will be conducting a series of events to mark the celebrations under Swatantra Bharatha Vajrostavalu till August 21.

The theme for the celebrations is '75'. All the celebrations were created, and special programmes were planned to commemorate the event and symbolise the celebrations as 'Wheels of Freedom'-'Taking Telangana Forward'. The Grand Bus Parade was also organised with the antique Albion Bus from London and commissioned in 1932.

Blood donation camps will also be held on August 18, to collect 7,500 units of blood in our hospital and other 75 locations of TSRTC. Senior citizens of 75 years and above will receive a free medical health check-up and free medicine at TSRTC Hospital, Tarnaka, from August 15 to 22 and for citizens below 75 years, a special health package of Rs 750 per head will be offered with further discount of 75 per cent on medicines, said an official.